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Education- 4IR Summary

The world is on the precipice of another revolution. New technologies have allowed the human race to push for a new standard of living. In the new future we can help create a world with less poverty, where people can live longer, transform they way we consume energy so it is more efficient, and automate the workforce. These new advancements will drastically change the way we live, and after taking DT&L it has become apparent that the world is not ready for these new technologies. We are progressing so fast when it comes to technology that our society cannot catch up.This is why we have had such massive hacks on our public and private institutions. Us being behind explains why some scientists and inventors are worried with what we will do with AI. Our societal awareness is so far behind our technological awareness that disaster may be looming around the corner and we can not see it. Now how do we fix these problems? The consensus of our class is that education is the key to understanding this new future. The major issue we face, however is that the way our current educational system works is inadequate to help students prepare for this future.

Our current educational system is outdated, even by today’s standards and as the fourth industrial revolution begins our schooling system will be placed further behind than ever before. If students are unprepared for today’s economy then there is little hope schooling will prepare students for the future economy. As our economy is led into another technological revolution it is time for us to take schooling along with it. Yet, how do we do this?

The future of our education system has been a hotly debated issue in politics for decades. Programs like President George Bush’s No Child Left Behind are a recent reminder. Most people agree that there are massive flaws in the way we educate the nation’s youth. The video below went viral last year and has garnered millions of views.

There have also been many TED talks highlighting the importance of education reform and that the current way of teaching is inadequate. Below is a TED talk from Sir Ken Robinson talking about how to escape education’s death valley.

Both of these videos highlight two important flaws that our education system has: It is a rigid system and it stifles individuality. Since there are millions of students in America it was seen as an easier solution to standardize the basics. Standardized tests decided where kids can go to school, which states receive grants, and hammer in basic study skills to students. This system has in turn stifled individuality and this is an issue because it handicaps students who think differently, a perfect analogy is teaching a goldfish to climb a tree. This standardization and mechanization of our education system has held it back from change. Sir Ken Robinson create a good point in his TED Talk, “Education is not a mechanical system it’s a human system.” The main issue plaguing education is that it has failed to adapt to the individual needs of the student and has forced students into a box. Thankfully with the new technologies ushered in by the Fourth Industrial Revolution we have the potential to individualize education and make it possible for every student to learn at their own pace, so everyone can prepare themselves for the future.

AI will change the way students from all age groups will learn. The current education system has been in place for over one hundred years and the same static classroom look has not changed. Artificial Intelligence will change the general approach to education to a more focused and refined version for each student. AI will be able to detect what subjects are harder for students at an earlier age and will be able to work with that student to improve his/her skills. The more individualized the education is, the more likely the student will gain more out of the class. Education with the help of AI will become more immersive and will become a long term approach to generating new skills for students. Giving students exposure to smart boards and new online tools such as Slack, will empower them to learn and become more efficient. Artificial intelligence is one the most important technologies in the contemporary world, it is apart of everyone’s daily lives and we are bounded to the power it gives us. The classic student and teacher relationship will become more engaging and less hierarchical. Virtual reality and AI will go hand in hand to create a new way of learning. The ability to learn anytime and anywhere will change the way we view schools and rigid structure.

There is another question we have to ask ourselves when we update our education system What do we want to get out of it? When we are able to create an education system that adapts new technologies and embraces a student’s individuality the question becomes what will we teach. The video below gives a quick explanation on what the new curriculum should be.

Near the end of this video an interesting point was made. Education should not end at a certain point, people can continue to grow and learn even after they are no longer in school. With the help of the internet and sites such as Udemy, people can learn new skills at a cheap price. With this new technology and system, adults can learn and experience new things just as students do. This is the future of education and this will help fix the issues like rigidity and lack of individuality. The internet is excellent at passing on information fast and creating new content in response to changing times. With online classes and YouTube teaching channels students can learn what they want to learn and in depth. All of human knowledge and history is available for humans to view. When a new disruptive technology enters the world economy, people will be able to go to the internet and learn how to adapt. In the future someone can learn new skills that will allow them to succeed in an ever changing economy.

The fourth industrial revolution is coming and it is going to completely change the way we see the world. Currently we are unprepared for this revolution. In order to become prepared we have to look at our current education system and fix the flaws plaguing it. We have to make education more personal and fitting for every student and make the system less rigid. Today we have the technology and equipment to implement this properly. In the future we can have an economy that will produce disruptive technologies, but we do not have to fear it. Using the internet we can have people constantly learning new things and adapting themselves to the changing world around them. As talked about in the last POV by some students, we have to keep ourselves up to date. We believe that this dream can be a possibility and that we can update education to fit the challenges of the future and a 21st century world.